Thirty-two festivals, twelve months
The year, in
thirty-two festivals.
A festival is a city with a different nervous system for two weeks. Here is the year, month by month, with what each one actually costs and when to book.
The calendar
Twelve months, every one of them busy
Festivals that run across several months appear in each of them.
February
March
Quiet. Go to a museum.
April
May
June
July
August
September
Plan it
Build your festival year
Pick your months, your genres and a budget. We give you a shortlist with booking deadlines.
All festivals
32 entries
Sorted by the month they start.
Jan / FebRotterdam · Film
International Film Festival Rotterdam
The counterweight to the glamour festivals: first and second features, no red carpet
FebBerlin · Film
Berlinale
The only major film festival that sells most of its seats to the public
FebMexico City · Art
Zona Maco
Latin America's largest art fair, and a week in which the whole city programmes against it
FebFreeVenice · Street
Carnevale di Venezia
Masks, a city that empties of cars because it never had any, and a flight down a rope into the piazza
AprFreeMilan · Design
Milano Design Week
The furniture fair on the edge of town, and a city-wide exhibition that is mostly free
Apr / MayFreeBerlin · Art
Gallery Weekend Berlin
Fifty galleries open together on one weekend, free, with the whole city in attendance
Apr to NovVenice · Art
La Biennale di Venezia
The oldest and largest international exhibition, with a whole city as its floor plan
AprIndio, California · Music
Coachella
A polo field in the desert that sets the year's festival aesthetic for everyone else
MayFreeTokyo · Art
Roppongi Art Night
One night in which the Roppongi museums stay open until dawn and the streets fill with installations
MayCannes · Film
Festival de Cannes
The most important film festival in the world, and almost entirely closed to the public
JunBarcelona · Music
Primavera Sound
A park by the sea, a line-up that ignores genre hierarchy and sets that run until six in the morning
JunBarcelona · Music
Sónar
The festival that split itself into day and night and made both work
JunBasel · Art
Art Basel
The most important art fair in the world, in a city that clears its calendar for it
JunFreeParis · Music
Fête de la Musique
On the summer solstice anyone may play anywhere, for free, all night
JunPilton, Somerset · Music
Glastonbury Festival
A working dairy farm that becomes the fifth-largest settlement in the county for five days
Jul to SepLondon · Music
BBC Proms
Eight weeks of classical music with standing places sold on the day for the price of a coffee
JulAvignon · Stage
Festival d'Avignon
Theatre in a papal palace courtyard, plus a thousand fringe shows in every other room in town
Jul / AugSalzburg · Stage
Salzburger Festspiele
Six weeks of opera, concerts and drama in a small Baroque town that doubles its population
JulNaeba, Niigata · Music
Fuji Rock Festival
A ski resort in the mountains, seven stages along a forest path and famously clean ground
AugFreeEdinburgh · Stage
Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The largest arts festival on earth, with no selection committee and no quality control
AugEdinburgh · Stage
Edinburgh International Festival
The curated half of August: orchestras, opera and theatre invited rather than self-selected
AugFreeLondon · Street
Notting Hill Carnival
Europe's largest street festival, Caribbean in origin and entirely free
Aug / SepVenice · Film
Venice Film Festival
The oldest film festival in the world, on a beach island reached by boat
SepSeoul · Art
Frieze Seoul and Kiaf
The fair that moved the Asian art market, with the whole city programming around it
SepFreeBerlin · Art
Berlin Art Week
Institutions, project spaces and an art fair, coordinated across five days in September
SepFreeBarcelona · Street
La Mercè
Barcelona's city festival: human towers, fire runs, giants and free concerts for four days
OctFreeParis · Art
Nuit Blanche
One night when the museums stay open until dawn and the city fills with installations, all free
OctLondon · Art
Frieze London
A tent in Regent's Park, a second tent for the old masters, and the whole London art world in one week
Oct / NovFreeMexico City · Street
Día de Muertos
Altars, marigolds and a parade that only exists because of a film
Dec / JanFreeAmsterdam · Street
Amsterdam Light Festival
Light installations along the canals, seen best from a boat in the freezing dark
DecMiami Beach · Art
Art Basel Miami Beach
The American edition, and a week in which the whole of Miami becomes a party with art in it
DecMilan · Stage
Prima della Scala
The opera season opens on the feast of Saint Ambrose and the country watches on television